New Sonic (1st new Chevy ever)

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Emersonic

Member
We picked up a 2012 Sonic 2 weeks ago, sticker was just over $17g and they had it on for under $12, low finance rate (2.9%) and payments (though they are for 84 months - too long, but we can pay it off faster if needed/wanted), no option car, i.e. no air, no cruise. Good commuter...so I thought.

1st impressions are the car is nice. Good enough for an economy (lol) car and with the 5 spd, fun to drive. Tires, Hankooks, are terrible on snow. Scary terrible, and I grew up driving on nothing but all seasons even with my 5.0 back in the early 90's. Never had winter tires. I bought new wheels and generic winter tires for this thing, and what a difference. That's all less than 2 weeks in...

Then on Monday this week...kid is driving it and the oil light comes on. Less than 1000 km and it's gotta be flat-decked in for warranty work - blew the oil sending unit off the car somehow. (Haven't even made a payment yet) Makes me wonder if this is what I'm in for for buying a GM product instead of sticking with Ford like I have for the past 26 years. Or I should've just bought another V6 car...like a 5 yr old Accord or something.

MPGs suck. Unbelievably suck. 9.1l/100 km (26 US mpg) out of a 4 cyl. I'm hoping there is some truth to the whole "programmed from the factory to run rich" BS for the first 1000 or so km...otherwise I may be looking at finding someone to take over the payments, and go buy a 5 yr old Corolla instead, or an old diesel Jetta...and actually get close to or better than what they claim! Why is no one suing GM over false mileage claims? :rolleyes:

So I guess we'll take a wait and see approach for the time being. Maybe I just have to learn to drive 50 mph to work everyday...gets close to 35 mpg at that speed.

On a positive note...hard as it may be to find one so early in the ownership game...it is fun to drive; took it to the city to get my new wheels and gotta say, driving a little pipsqueak like this is a hoot.

P1010706_zps39ad5d78.jpg
 
Maddog2020

Maddog2020

Active member
Welcome, you got a great price on that (looks sharp). Bummer about the early problems, that is unusual. Lots of tips in the Forum to improve gas mileage.
 
JaSonic

JaSonic

This Space Available
First, congrats on your new car!

Seocnd, You might want to reset your mpg after every fill-up, if you aren't already.

Third, 84 month loan?! wowza! lol
 
E

Emersonic

Member
JaSonic said:
First, congrats on your new car!

Seocnd, You might want to reset your mpg after every fill-up, if you aren't already.

Third, 84 month loan?! wowza! lol
Click to expand...

Keeps the payment on the down low...or I could've bought a 5-7 yr old something else for 4 years and the same monthly. Thought warranty was more important with 2 kids going to go through it, so we'll have it that long or longer anyway. If it doesn't die first that is :D
 
E

Emersonic

Member
That's either a back handed slap...or you aren't impressed with yours either. If it's A. it's "should have got a Ford". If it's B...guess we'll see.
 
JaSonic

JaSonic

This Space Available
Emersonic said:
Keeps the payment on the down low...or I could've bought a 5-7 yr old something else for 4 years and the same monthly. Thought warranty was more important with 2 kids going to go through it, so we'll have it that long or longer anyway. If it doesn't die first that is :D
Click to expand...

yeah, everyone has their own way of doing it. I just never heard of anything past 75months. lol

ps, don't give up on chevy!!!
 
E

Emersonic

Member
Here in Canada (granted our "rating" board is as useful as a blue Smartie again) give the Sonic (the one I bought) a 50 (Imperial) mpg rating...50 mpg. I barely get 30-33 Imp mpg's (multiply by .833 to get US mpg) at 100kmh/60 mph...that's as bad or worse than that whole Hyundai debacle yet no one ever takes a dump on the domestics for falsifying their claims. It's not like they're telling those in charge up here that uh, you might want to drop that number by about 15 to 20 mpg...doesn't sell cars that way.

I'm going to give the 91 octane thing a shot. Cost like $3 more per tank probably, if that...I fill up once per week so it shouldn't take long to figure out if it makes any difference. Then again I'm close to that magic "1000 km runs rich factory programming" I was told about too...so maybe I should wait another month before trying out "better" gas. Get a fair comparison based on the computer not thinking the car is in break in period any longer.
 
lambertsonic

lambertsonic

New member
Congrats on the sonic , now get used to low 30 mpg or if you prefer 8 liters per 100 km . That what I get in my sonic and I don't have a light foot . My car is broken in at 30,000km . On a different note , you did get a great deal at 12000$ .
 
gdideric

gdideric

New member
I got high 20s mpg driving city traffic, lots of stoplights and mid 30s when i was going 60 mph on the freeway.

3000 miles later, I get low thirties in the city and high 30s to low 40s going 60 mph on the freeway.

My wife is a few mpg below me. i use 93 octane...because I've put 3000 miles on my car in 6 months, so it costs me a couple bucks a year to use more expensive gas...so...why not.
 
lastcallbeechez

lastcallbeechez

New member
welcome to sof. you'll find lots of helpful info here. i sure have.

i understand your concern over gm quality. i had my own reservations after a 2010 chevy cobalt left a bad taste in my mouth, but i must say the stuff they have been putting out lately is really close to top notch. let them get the bugs worked out of your sonic before you make any permanent judgements. and always remember you bought a NEW car, so raise some hell at the dealership and make em get it right! you'de be suprised what a little fit throwing and a call to GM will do.
 
E

Emersonic

Member
Thanks for the welcome...sorry I started out a little ass-hattedly...(other thread) - have to go pick it up right away as it is fixed. I hope. Anyway, found a pic of it with the winter wheels. Not bad for $290 (wheels - tires were another $490)
P1010775_zps7ac17f86.jpg
 
ganthc

ganthc

New member
Gas mileage should improve when the weather warms up. I have the 1.8l automatic, and I have gotten 30.9 on the first tank, 28.0 on the second, and 29.1 on the third. That includes my commute to work here in the DC area, with stop and go traffic. I had the car in Austin as a rental, and was getting 30 and 34mpg mixed with the same engine broken in and with warmer weather...so I am optimistic. The ratings are 25 city/ 35 highway, and at around 28-30, I think I am hitting the mark so far.

I also noticed with the recent brief warming here in DC that my tire pressure has increased slightly, so maybe colder weather also lowers your tire pressure and affects the mpg rating.
 
JCHAG

JCHAG

Calling BS since 1999
Emersonic said:
Then on Monday this week...kid is driving it and the oil light comes on. Less than 1000 km and it's gotta be flat-decked in for warranty work - blew the oil sending unit off the car somehow. (Haven't even made a payment yet) Makes me wonder if this is what I'm in for for buying a GM product instead of sticking with Ford like I have for the past 26 years. Or I should've just bought another V6 car...like a 5 yr old Accord or something.

MPGs suck. Unbelievably suck. 9.1l/100 km (26 US mpg) out of a 4 cyl. I'm hoping there is some truth to the whole "programmed from the factory to run rich" BS for the first 1000 or so km...otherwise I may be looking at finding someone to take over the payments, and go buy a 5 yr old Corolla instead, or an old diesel Jetta...and actually get close to or better than what they claim! Why is no one suing GM over false mileage claims? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Every once i a while, a faulty part makes its way onto a new vehicle. Fortunately, these things usually come up very soon after the car is put into service, and are fixed pretty quickly. We can never assume that just because a car is brand new, nothing will go wrong with it.

A couple of things regarding fuel economy claims. These are (in the USA anyway), calculated by a government agency, not the manufacturer, so no one can sue GM because the EPA provided an estimate that is lower than people are actually seeing. Also in the US, the EPA performs their tests in a laboratory using E0 fuel, which definitely gives better economy than the E10-E15 most of us are forced to use in our vehicles. I'm not aware of any program to make the engine "run rich" for a period of time, but you will see better economy once the engine is "broken in" (10,000 km +), and when the ambient temperatures begin to rise. In my experience, I see an increase of about 3MPG when using 93 octane vs 87 octane. I have the 1.4 turbo, and I'm not sure of the increase on economy for the 1.8 using higher octane gas.

I also see a huge drop in fuel economy (about 3MPG) when running the AC or using the HVAC in windshield defrost mode. This is a big deal for me living in FL where I need to run the AC non stop for 6 months out of the year, but it's a consequence common with small displacement engines.
 
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